体重决定猪回肠内的蛋白吸收率

<正>近期伊利诺伊大学的J.A.Almeida博士、 Hans H.Stein博士以及Carsten Pedersen博士联手展开体重对于标准化回肠蛋白质和氨基酸吸收率的影响试验,结论证明,20 kg以下的仔猪回肠对于粗蛋白和氨基酸的吸收率比20~50 kg的育成猪和50~110 kg的育肥猪低。而且同一猪群的不同猪只也表现出吸收率的差异性。例如,在测定的300只仔猪中粗蛋白和氨基酸的吸收率     

A model of decision-making and information flows for information-intensive agriculture

This paper describes the development of a systems based model to characterise farmers’ decision-making process in information-intensive practices, and its evaluation in the context of Precision Agriculture (PA). A participative methodology was developed in which farm managers decomposed their process of decision-making into brief decision statements along with associated information requirements. The methodology was first developed on a university research farm in Denmark and further revised during testing on a number of research and commercial farms in Indiana, USA. Twenty-one decision-analysis factors were identified to characterise a farm manager’s decision-making process. Then, a general data flow diagram (DFD) was constructed that describes the information flows “from data to decision”. Illustrative examples of the model in the form of DFDs are presented for a strategic, a tactical and an operational decision. The model was validated for a range of decisions related to operations by three university farm managers and by five commercial farmers practicing PA for cereal, corn and soybean production in Denmark and in Indiana, USA.     

Lactoperoxidase-induced protein oxidation in milk

The reaction between lactoperoxidase (LPO) and H(2)O(2) in the presence of bovine serum albumin (BSA), beta-lactoglobulin, or casein was investigated for the formation of protein radicals by freeze-quench electron spin resonance (ESR) and by the formation of the protein oxidation product, dityrosine. The presence of BSA resulted in a dramatic change after 1 min of reaction in the obtained ESR spectrum compared with the spectrum obtained for LPO and H(2)O(2) alone. Furthermore, experiments employing BSA or beta-lactoglobulin resulted in the formation of long-lived protein radicals detectable 10 min after initiation of the reaction. The presence of casein resulted in a minor change in the fine structure of the ESR spectrum after 1 min of reaction compared with LPO and H(2)O(2) alone, but no difference between the two reaction mixtures could be observed after 10 min of reaction. The formation of dityrosine could be detected in reaction mixtures containing LPO and H(2)O(2) after 1 and 10 min of incubation at 25 degrees C both in the absence and in the presence of BSA, beta-lactoglobulin, or casein. The presence of casein resulted in an increased dityrosine concentration compared with the reaction with LPO and H(2)O(2) alone. Endogenous LPO in unpasteurized milk was activated at 25 degrees C by adding 1 mM H(2)O(2). Radical species could be detected directly in the milk by freeze-quench ESR during the initial phase of the reaction, and dityrosine could be measured after 4 h of incubation. The role of LPO activity in the formation of ESR detectable radical species and dityrosine in milk was further verified in ultrahigh temperature (UHT) milk with no endogenous enzyme activity, as the formation of ESR detectable radical species and dityrosine took place in UHT milk only upon the addition of both H(2)O(2) and exogenous LPO.     

SE—Structures and Environment: Ammonia Emission and Nitrogen Balances in Mink Houses

Ammonia emissions from mink houses were measured over two seasons for growing kits in a two-row open-sided building with slurry gutters (385 mm wide). In the first season, a layer of sand was placed below the cages, and in the last season a layer of chopped barley straw on sand, to serve as a collector for urine and faeces dropped outside the gutter. When the slurry was removed weekly in the houses with slurry gutter and sand layer, the ammonia emission was 0·59 g [N] per animal per 24 h at 6°C and 1·15 g [N] per animal per 24 h at 16°C. By covering the ground area below the cages with a layer of chopped barley straw, renewed weekly, the nitrogen loss increased with the time since the latest renewal of the straw. One week after renewal of straw and removal of slurry, the emission amounted to 0·70 g [N] per animal per 24 h at 6°C and 1·44 g [N] per animal per 24 h at 16°C.Nine-week nitrogen balance measurements were carried out in three sections over the second season. When a layer of chopped barley straw on the ground area was renewed once a week, about 45% of the nitrogen in the consumed feed was collected in the slurry gutter by emptying the gutter twice a week. About 19% was collected in straw beneath the cages, about 5% was deposited in the carcass, about 20% evaporated, and the rest, about 11%, was assumed to be collected in the sand layer below the cages.     

Empirical predictions of plant material C and N mineralization patterns from near infrared spectroscopy, stepwise chemical digestion and C/N ratios

Prediction of carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) mineralization patterns of plant litter is desirable for both agronomic and environmental reasons. Near infrared reflectance (NIR) spectroscopy has recently been introduced in decomposition studies to characterize biochemical composition. The purpose of the current study was to use empirical techniques to predict C and N mineralization patterns of a wide range of plant materials incubated under controlled temperature and moisture conditions. We hypothesized that the richness of information in the NIR spectra would considerably improve predictions compared to traditional stepwise chemical digestion (SCD) or C/N ratios. Initially, we fitted a number of empirical functions to the observed C and N mineralization patterns. The best functions fitted with R²=0.990 and 0.949 to C and N, respectively. The fractions of C and N mineralized at different points in time were then either predicted directly with regression functions or indirectly by prediction of the parameters of the empirical functions fitted to incubation data. In both cases, partial least squares (PLS) regressions were used and predictions were validated by cross-validations. We found that the NIR spectra (best R²=0.925) were able to predict C mineralization patterns marginally better than the SCD fractions (best R²=0.911), but considerably better than the C/N ratios (best R²=0.851). In contrast, N mineralization was better predicted by SCD fractions (best R²=0.533) than the C/N ratio (best R²=0.497), which was better than NIR predictions (best R²=0.446). Although the predictions with the NIR spectra were only slightly better for C and worse for N mineralization compared to SCD fractions, NIR spectroscopy still holds advantages, as it is a much less laborious and cheaper analytical method. Furthermore, exploration of the applications of NIR spectroscopy in decomposition studies has only just begun, and offers new ways to gain insights into the decomposition process.     

Fertilizer ammonium : nitrate ratios determine phosphorus uptake by young maize plants

We investigated the interacting effects of inorganic nitrogen and the main inorganic phosphorus form in dairy manure (dicalcium phosphate, CaHPO₄) on growth, nutrient uptake, and rhizosphere pH of young maize plants. In a pot experiment, three levels of CaHPO₄ (0, 167, and 500 mg P pot^?1) were combined with nitrogen (637 mg N pot^?1) applied at five NH₄‐N : NO₃‐N ratios (0 : 100, 25 : 75, 50 : 50, 75 : 25, and 100 : 0) and a nitrification inhibitor in a concentrated layer of a typical acid sandy soil from Denmark. ¹⁵N‐labeled NH₄‐N was applied to differentiate the role of nitrification and to partition nitrogen uptake derived from NH₄‐N. Among treatments including nitrogen, shoot biomass, rooting and phosphorus uptake were significantly higher at the five‐leaf stage when CaHPO₄ was applied with NH₄‐N : NO₃‐N ratios of 50 : 50 and 75 : 25. In these treatments, rhizosphere pH dropped significantly in direct proportion with NH₄‐N uptake. The fertilizers in the concentrated layer had a root‐inhibiting effect in treatments without phosphorus supply and in treatments with pure NO₃‐N or NH₄‐N supply. Increased nitrogen uptake as NH₄‐N instead of NO₃‐N reduced rhizosphere pH and enhanced acquisition of applied CaHPO₄ by young maize plants, which may have positive implications for the enhanced utilization of manure phosphorus.     

Flexible exchange of farming device data

A new trend in the farming business is to replace conventional farming devices with computerized farming devices. Accordingly, numerous computer-based farming devices for logging, processing and exchanging data have recently been installed on moving farm machinery such as tractors. The exchange of data generally takes place between the devices and farming systems, mostly installed at the premises of farmers, contractors, advisory services, etc. In most cases, data exchange is based on farming data exchange standards and is bi-directional. Bi-directional data exchange allows different devices and systems to exchange data based on a predefined set of rules. In consequence, many hand-coded data exchange solutions have been developed in the farming business. Although efforts regarding incorporating data exchange standards have been made, their actual usage so far has been limited, due to the fact that hand-coded bi-directional data exchange solutions have proven themselves too complex to maintain. Maintenance need to occur as requirements change frequently and the existing data exchange techniques lack flexibility with regards to efficient requirements change management. In addition, requirements change results in managing low-level code rather than a high-level specifications. This paper presents a bi-directional data exchange solution in the farming business that is based on high-level specifications without any need for hand-coding. The proposed solution supports ISOBUS based bi-directional data exchange as well as efficient requirements change management through a graphical user interface. The paper also demonstrates the use of the proposed solution based on a farming case study and open source technologies.     

Digestibility of protein and starch from sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is linked to biochemical and structural features of grain endosperm

Although a principal source of energy and protein for millions of the world's poorest people, the nutritional value of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) is diminished because of low digestibility of grain protein and starch. To address this problem, we analyzed the properties of two sorghum lines that have a common pedigree but differ in digestibility. Consistent with results based on a ruminal fluid assay, the protein and starch of one line (KS48) was more thoroughly digested than that of the other (KS51) using in vitro assays based on pepsin and α-amylase. The indigestibility of KS51 relative to KS48 was shown to be due to (i) a greater abundance of disulfide-bonded proteins; (ii) presence in KS51 of non-waxy starch and the accompanying granule-bound starch synthase; and (iii) the differing nature of the protein matrix and its interaction with starch. The current findings suggest that each of these factors should be considered in efforts to enhance the nutritional value of sorghum grain.     

Can plot edge bias be reduced by means of airborne laser scanning?

This paper presents new methods for plot edge bias (PEB) correction of individual tree competition indices (CIs) using airborne laser scanning (ALS) as auxiliary information in multivariate ratio and multivariate regression models. I applied the methods to 557 plots from the Norwegian National Forest Inventory located in Hedmark County in South East Norway and compared them to the benchmarks methods linear expansion and simulated annealing by studying the individual tree growth predictions before and after PEB correction. Generally, the simulated annealing method seemed to improve growth prediction most and overall the existing methods performed better than those based on ALS. All PEB-correction methods tested gave minor changes in growth predictions and the absolute change in percent in adj. R² and Akaike's Information Criterion (AIC) was numerically small, with an average percentage change for the tested CIs between 1.8 for adj. R² and 0.6 for AIC of the observed values in the original data. The small differences in the results between the original data and the PEB-corrected data show that on average PEB remains a minor problem for individual tree growth prediction. Whether the results are valid for forests with significantly different spatial composition than that of this database remains to be confirmed.     

Effect of water hardness on peracetic acid toxicity to zebrafish, Danio rerio, embryos

The use of peracetic acid (PAA) in aquaculture has been suggested as an alternative therapeutic agent. Few data are available concerning fish toxicity by PAA or factors that modify this toxicity. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of water hardness on the acute toxicity of PAA products to embryos of zebrafish (Danio rerio). Embryos were exposed to PAA ranging from 0 to 9 mg/L in low-hardness (1.4 °dH or 25 mg/L hardness as CaCO₃), medium-hardness (14 °dH or 250 mg/L hardness as CaCO₃) and high-hardness (140 °dH or 2,500 mg/L hardness as CaCO₃) waters. The lowest LC50 value was 2.24 mg/L PAA in the low-hardness water, and the highest LC50 value was 7.14 mg/L PAA in the high-hardness water. Toxicity of PAA to embryos was found to be negatively correlated with water hardness. The pH decreased with increasing concentrations of PAA, and the test waters were observed to become more acidic in low hardness. In conclusion, aquaculturists using PAA should pay attention to water hardness to avoid acidosis.